Lost and Found
by Shadowbane2243
Summary: Bane is thrown into the middle of Vale, and not a very peaceful part of it either. Worst of all, he has no memories, the only clue to his past being his skill with weapons. While preparing for a trip to Beacon, Bane runs into several members of team RWBY and JNPR. First RWBY FanFic, and I decided to go with an OC. Brilliant, right?
1. Chapter 1: The Arrival

Chapter 1: The Arrival

He woke up, and immediately wondered _where am I?_ He took a quick look around the room, noticing the sparse amount of furniture first, then the mirror perched on top of the dresser. An unremarkable teen-aged boy stared back at him, with black hair hanging close to his shoulders, but not getting into his eyes. He glanced down at his clothes, black cargo pants and a dark grey hoodie, partially zipped up the front. Where it was open, he saw a plain red shirt.

Shortly after this analysis, he heard a knock on the door, which opened too soon afterwards for him to even invite the person in. A large man walked in, looked him over, and then laughed "Well you don't look too worse for wear, all things considered."

"What do you mean by that?" he asked

"You don't remember?" the large man said. "You flew into my bar from some weird purple sphere, bowling over 2 drunks and some guy no one remembers. The two drunks attacked, but couldn't touch you, or see you for that matter. Either you were invisible, or really fast. Knocked them down, but forgot about that one other guy. He gave you a good clout on the head before you knocked him out. One of the drunks got back up, took a run at you and tripped over that other guy again. Afterwards, you just looked around you, and fainted dead. Couldn't figure out why, but nothing seemed to be wrong, so I just brought you up here. By the way, this is one of the rooms at my bar, and seeing as how you don't look like you're over the age limit, you might want to leave pretty quick. What's your name anyway?"

The boy thought for a while. _What IS my name?_ After a few seconds, he just chose the first word that could be used as such. "Bane" he said.

"Not a very usual name." the bartender muttered.

"Not very usual for some teen to just appear in a bar either." Bane returned

"Point taken" the man said. "I'll show you out".

As they walked out of the room and down a flight of stairs to ground level, the man asked "So do you have any weapons on you? With the Grimm around here, I don't think you're going to want to use only your fists, like in that bar fight."

"Grimm? What are those?" Bane wondered out loud.

"You don't know what Grimm are?" the man exclaimed. "They live on the entire planet, and they terrorize people on a regular basis. How do you not know what they are?"

Bane thought about this, then realized something. "I don't know. I can't seem to remember anything about my past right now."

"Well that makes it a little more complicated. Although seeing you fight in the bar, you might want to join a fighting academy. My best suggestion is Beacon. Grimm are creatures similar to most animals, but smarter and bent on destroying the human race, trying to claim dominance of the planet." They had walked out the door of the bar by this time, just in time to hear a man yell.

"STOP THAT FAUNUS!"

They both turned towards the end of the street behind them in time to see a blur of colors fly past, soon followed by a crash and some muffled yelling.

"Who was that?" Bane asked.

"Well speak of the devil" the man murmured. "That was one of the teams from Beacon. I think their team name was RWBY. An acronym of their first names."

"They didn't seem very coordinated" Bane noted.

"Yeah, not the greatest advertisement for their school, was it?" the man quipped. "Now, about that weapon. I have a friend at a weapons shop nearby who might be able to figure out if you've used a weapon before."

"What about your bar?" Bane asked. "Who's going to take care of it while you're gone?"

"Well I'm not the only one who works at my bar" the man laughed.

They reached the store, and the man pushed open the door and yelled across the room "Yo, Eddie!"

"Only one man addresses me like that!" a voice called. "I'll be right out Joe! Just finishing up with this young ladies gear."

They walked to the front to see a young redhead at the counter, patiently waiting. A tall, yet buff man walked out from behind the counter and handed the girl a shield. "You really should stop throwing your shield at Deathstalkers Pyrrha. One of these times it will take out a chip I can't repair."

"Haven't heard of it happen yet, so I'm fairly confident it won't. Thanks again Edison" she replied, turning and walking out the door while nodding a greeting to the pair waiting behind her.

"Now, what can I do for you Joe?" Edison asked.

"Well, this young man seems to have a knack for fighting, but can't remember ever picking up a weapon. I was wondering if you could find something he's good with."

"Should be pretty easy. I just got a shipment of new weapons, so we have plenty of choices if we find the right type of weapon." Edison replied. "Let's go chop up a few bots, shall we?"

They walked out the back of the building and through the door of another. This one had a small room filled with rack upon rack of weapons, with a few shields mixed in. A door led to a massive room, covered entirely in white panels.

"So let's start with the basics. A two-handed sword maybe?" Edison went to the shelf and pulled out a blood red sword, only a foot shorter than he was, and barely shorter than Bane. Bane took the sword and walked to the center of the larger room. The door closed behind him, and he raised the sword vertically in front of him and slightly to the side. "You sure he hasn't used a weapon before?" Edison asked Joe. "He holds it perfectly!"

"He told me he can't remember anything. Must just be ingrained in his mind."

"Well, let's see if he can do more than just hold it right." Edison tapped around a bit on a pad under a one-way window between the rooms, and several enemies rose from the ground with similar weapons to Bane in their hands. "Let's start simple, send only one."

The bot stepped forward, swinging his sword powerfully from above. Bane spun to the side, swinging the sword horizontally through the back of the bot, slicing him in half.

"How did… that… he cut right through it!" Joe exclaimed

"Surprised me too" Edison replied. "That sword is just plain metal, nothing special about it. That's why I just leave it in here, and keep the fire swords and whatnot in the shop". He sent two more bots to Bane, who quickly dispatched them by blocking one bots sword, then spinning it into the other. While the first bot tried pulling his sword out of the second, Bane lazily sliced off its head.

"Alright, let's step it up then."

Edison brought five bots out of the ground, sending them all at Bane at the same time. He backed up two steps to get out of their circle, decapitating one robot to make room for him. The two nearest bots came towards him, one swinging from above, and the other from lower and from its right side. Bane blocked the strike from below while stepping aside to prevent from having his head cut in half. He swung his sword back, slicing one of the bots across the chest. It was enough to short-circuit it, putting it down. Another stepped in to replace him and swung horizontally at Bane. The other bot dove for a stab, which Bane simply stepped back from, allowing the bot to be decapitated by its partner. Bane swung his sword down towards the head of the other one, but noticed a sword out of the corner of his eye. He ducked, narrowly missing the chest of the bot he had been targeting, as well as just barely avoiding the other bots sword as it went over his head. Bane swung full-circle, cutting the legs off both the bots. He then swung lazily downwards, cutting off the heads of the bots and ensuring his safety. He signalled he was done, and the door opened to the sound of a slow clap.

"Well done" Edison applauded. "That last one was a little close though. You sure you never used a weapon?"

"No idea. But do you mind if I try a shorter sword and a shield? I feel a little clumsy with this giant thing."

"No problem, I'll grab a set" Edison walked into the smaller room, and some clanging could be heard as he rummaged through the various weapons for a decent sized set.

"Remember anything else yet?" Joe asked.

"Nothing. I don't even know how I can hold this thing. It looks like it should weigh so much more!" Bane replied.

"Hand it here. I'll go put it back while Eddie grabs your new choice." Bane held the sword by the blade and handed the hilt to Joe. As soon as he let go, the point dropped, almost hitting the floor. "What the… Eddie, get out here!" Joe yelled as he handed the sword back to Bane.

Eddie walked out, holding the sword and shield. "What's up?"

"Grab this sword for a second." Joe replied. Eddie raised his eyebrows, but took the sword from Bane the same way Joe had. The sword, again, dropped to the ground

"Whoa…I didn't even think about the weight while you were fighting." Eddie asked, trying to keep his jaw from dropping.

"It doesn't even feel heavy to me." Bane replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Well, I'm no doctor, so let's just get you fighting again and figure this out later." Eddie handed over the shield and sword. The sword was slightly shorter than the previous one, as it was made to be used with one hand, as reflected by the hilt. The shield, when rested on the ground, reached close to Bane's stomach. He walked again to the center of the room, raising the shield on his left arm so the top reached shoulder height, and holding the sword almost vertically beside it.

"Again," Edison commented from the smaller room. "Perfect form. But let's get this going." He used the pad again, starting Bane against two bots this time, on opposite sides of him. Edison only had one type of bot, so they still had just one sword, although with varying sword lengths. Instead of stepping out as he had the last time, Bane waited in the middle of the two, swiveling his head to see who moved first. As he glanced to his left, the bot on his right charged, swinging his sword from his left "waist", if he had one. This aimed the sword at Bane's back, and would have made it there, if he had been there anymore. He had again spun out of the way, cutting through the chest of the robot partway through the robots swing. It fell to the ground in a sparking pile. The other bot had charged during this time, going for a stab. Bane waited, shield raised to block the simple strike. The sword hit his shield, bouncing to the side and leaving a large gash in the cheap metal. Biding his time, Bane simply turned with the shield held in front of him, bashing the bot in the head as he turned. The bot fell to the ground and slid on its "face" to the wall, coming to a gentle stop. Bane dashed forward, running his sword through the bots back as it failed to rise. He had scarcely removed his sword when 4 more robots rose from the ground in a close formation behind him.

"Surprise attack!" Edison yelled in glee

"Thanks. That's ALL I needed." Bane replied, quickly going back to his starting form. This time, however, was slightly different. All 4 bots charged at once, swinging from 4 different angles. Bane simply smiled and swung his shield in an arc in front of him, swinging all the blades to his left at the same time. He swung his sword quickly behind it, slicing through the chest of the furthest right bot. Its top half fell off, its legs slowly crumpling behind it. Bane stepped to his right around the group, and held up his shield again. All three bots swung their blades from above, planning on overpowering him. Bane grinned lopsidedly, crouching and holding his shield up to block the swords. They sliced into the shield, embedding themselves an inch into the shield, which remained unmoved.

"What the… I can't even block one of those, and he just blocked three with no effort!" Edison muttered. "And he ruined my shield!"

"Come on, it's an old one. Not very well made either it seems" Joe joked.

"It's still my shield" Edison replied, but he was grinning too much to be taken seriously.

While they were talking, Bane had cut down another of the bots after the shield had been ruined. He threw it off to the side, seeing that it couldn't take another hit like that. The bots came at him side by side, each swinging from the outside towards the inside and Bane. He stepped back, letting the blades pass by in front of him, then striking both swords with his own as they crossed each other. This forced the swords to continue their paths, the swords embedding themselves in the bots. They both went down, sparking as they went. Bane walked towards the small room, picking up what was left of the shield as he went. "Sorry about the shield, but I'm still trying to figure out my strength."

"No worries, I've got at least 3 more in here, and there's nothing really special about them, just metal and craftsmanship." Edison waved it off. "Anyway, it's closing time. You can come back tomorrow to try out some other weapons if you want."

Joe thought about this, then said "Its Saturday tomorrow. I should probably show him the town for the weekend instead, seeing as he'll probably be here a while."

"That actually sounds like a good idea" Bane replied. "I can come back on Monday, if that's alright with you." He indicated Edison with this last statement.

"I'm usually closed for the weekend anyway, so I'm fine with that" Edison replied.

"Perfect. See you on Monday Eddie!" Joe said, walking out.

As they walked out, Bane realized something. "Hey Joe, mind if I stay at your bar for a few nights? Seeing as I have nowhere else to go."

"I thought that was already the plan, but yes you may"

Bane laughed as they continued walking. He had no idea where he was, who he was, or what he used to be. _But at least I have a place to stay, and something to do_ he thought.


	2. Chapter 2: The Locals

**{A/N} A much shorter chapter than the last one, I didn't want to just skip 2 days and then throw in random information that he "somehow" knew. **

Chapter 2: The Locals

It was the day after Bane had arrived in Vale, and they had stopped for a rest at a café. Bane had never heard of coffee, and was quickly disgusted by the bitter taste. Joe just laughed and handed him the cream and sugar, after which Bane had to admit, it was pretty good.

As Joe pointed out a few buildings nearby, a pair walked into the café, male and female, causing Bane to stop listening and just stare. "Does that man have a tail?" Bane asked quietly.

Joe turned and saw the man. "Yep. He's a monkey faunus. Not very common around here, since most faunus are afraid of humans, after all the discrimination against them."

"So… they're basically humans, but with a few animal traits?" Bane said.

"Yeah, as far as I know. No one is really sure how they came to be, only a few myths about odd relationships between humans and animals. For obvious reasons, I'm not going to elaborate." Joe finished, laughing.

"So they're being discriminated for having a few extra body parts and possibly a few odd tendencies." Bane stated. "What sense does that make?"

"My thoughts exactly. A lot of people refuse to enter my bar because I hire faunus. But quite frankly, if they don't want to be there for that reason, I don't want their business anyway."

Bane looked around the café, noticing some of the looks that the customers were giving the obvious faunus in their midst. What surprised him most was that some people only looked afraid. "If they only hate the faunus for being different, why do so many look afraid?"

Joe sighed, then said "A while back, a protesting group comprised entirely of faunus called for more rights for the faunus. When they weren't received very well, they got… drastic. They turned to violence and crime to get back at the world in general for their suffering. Unfortunately, that also caused most people to hate faunus even more, believing everyone was part of this group, called the White Fang."

At this, the woman with the monkey faunus glanced their way, only just long enough for Bane to notice. She quickly turned back to the counter, picking up her tea and walking past them to a table on the balcony.

Bane dismissed the look, thinking it was nothing but her being worried for her friend. He continued sitting and continuing his odd way to pass the time. He found that he would listen to the conversations around him until he found an interesting one, following it until he heard something else interesting. In this way, he heard a lot about what was going on, like his own personal news feed. As such, he had heard of the robberies performed by both the White Fang and another crime lord, Roman Torchwick. He had also heard about some of the different attractions around the city in this way. He continued his listening pattern, including the pair that had passed them. Suddenly, he heard the girl quietly and hesitantly say "I was once a member of the White Fang".

Bane glanced up at this, and found that the girl was looking at him again. Her eyes widened as she realized he had heard, and he made a quick motion to show he wasn't worried about it. She visibly relaxed again, and returned to her partner, who had finished choking on his coffee.

Bane noticed that Joe was finished his coffee and was sitting quietly waiting for him. Bane drained his cup, then stood with Joe to leave. As they walked out, Joe commented "What was with all the hand waving back there?"

Bane thought for a while about it. _Considering that he treats faunus like any human, I guess it's alright to tell him._ "That girl that walked past was apparently with the White Fang for a bit. She had said that to her friend, and realized that I had heard, and I was just waving to her to tell her it was fine, that I wasn't going to tell anyone about it."

"Well, so long as it's only 'used to be'." Joe said.

Bane let out a breath, thankful that Joe wasn't going to be spreading this around. He had no idea who the girl was, but since she had once been in the White Fang, her life couldn't be easy. From what he had heard, very few people left the White Fang and lived to tell of it. The White Fang had become too protective of all information concerning their group, which was proven by the fact that no one had any idea where their base of operations were. For her to escape their grasp would have been incredibly difficult.

They continued walking, and ended up at a dust store that had recently been robbed. The police were just finishing up, cleaning the glass laying on the ground, grumbling about how this was too far below them. The pair looked up as Bane and Joe walked up.

"Any idea who did this?" Bane asked, already suspecting one of two culprits.

"Not sure. Probably White Fang, considering the string of dust robberies we've been seeing. Too much for Torchwick, we figure."

Bane nodded, seeing the truth in this. However, considering what he knew about Torchwick, you could never underestimate the man. He had come up with dangerously genius plans in the past, all of which had succeeded, until one recent dust robbery. Apparently, a young girl, dressed exclusively in red and black, had prevented the robbery, either killing or knocking out all of Torchwick's cronies in a matter of seconds, but losing Torchwick as he escaped on a bullhead with the assistance of an unknown woman. Reportedly, the only reason the young girl lived was because of a huntress that saved her from the woman, but those details were extremely sketchy, as the only proof they had were a few shards of unknown material and burn marks on the roof of the building the young girl chased Torchwick to.

Bane turned to Joe, who was already walking away from the crime and back to his bar. Bane ran to catch up, then asked "What's up?"

Joe glanced at him, grimacing. "Just don't like sitting around too much when people start blaming the White Fang. Eventually, everything is blamed on them, even in the most ridiculous of circumstances." Joe laughed. "I remember one time when someone's mansion caught on fire, and he blamed it on the White Fang. Unfortunately for him, his surveillance footage was stored away from home, showing him drunk, and lighting a fire in the middle of his living room." He got serious again. "But still, the White Fang have a reason for what they do. If people would just accept them for who they are, we wouldn't be in this mess, and the White Fang could live the exact same way we do."

Bane nodded, having no reason to argue with this, and nothing to add. Suddenly, he heard an odd beeping noise, and looked at Joe, the source of the noise. "What's that?"

Joe lifted his arm, showing a thin metal band on his arm. He pressed a button on the holographic screen hovering over the band as he answered "This is a scroll. It's basically a computer and a phone combined together. Most people have them. Speaking of which, we should probably go find you one."

Edison's face appeared on the screen, and Bane moved until Edison could see him as well as Joe. "Hey kid. I would have called you directly, but I don't know your scroll's ID."

Bane laughed, then answered "I didn't even know what a scroll was until ten seconds ago."

"Well, that explains why I didn't know it" Edison laughed. "Either way, I was planning on asking you what you used in the bar fight. Just your fists? No chair legs or anything?"

Bane wondered where he got that idea. "Just my fists. As far as I know, there were no broken chairs sitting around the bar."

"Actually one of the drunks fell onto one of the chairs, but that was just before you fainted anyway. You never could have used it." Joe offered.

Edison nodded. "Perfect, I'm working on a weapon for you, so I was just wondering about that."

"Do you still want me back on Monday to test out some weapons?" Bane asked.

"Yeah, I want to see how you work with this weapon. I'm pretty sure you'll be impressed by it." Edison said, smiling.

"Well, see you Monday then Eddie." Joe signed off. He turned to Bane. "Now, about that scroll." He started walking again. "You have a couple choices, a scroll, or a scroll. I would suggest the scroll."

"I take it by your sarcastic monologue that there is only one model of scroll?" Bane quipped.

"Yup. We'll grab that, then call it a day"

Bane didn't answer, but wondered what kind of surprise Edison might have as a weapon for Bane. Then he had another thought. _He knows I'm good with a sword and shield, so that's probably what he's making. But why did he have to know that I only used my fists in that fight?_

**{A/N} I'm putting these out pretty fast, but don't expect this to be constant. Reviews always appreciated, whatever they may say about my work.**


	3. Chapter 3: Surprises

**{A/N} Just wanted to mention that I got the idea for Bane's weapon largely from Andy2396's story, Hero of Vytal. Obviously, I made some modifications since perfect copying would mean absolutely no effort on my part, and a lot of powers to explain. In response to a review from ****Jaing N. Skirata****, I had no idea what a lantern shield was until I looked it up. As you will soon see, doesn't quite fit my purposes, but an awesome idea nonetheless.**

Chapter 3: Surprises

Monday had arrived, and Bane was on his way to Edison's weapons shop. It was already late in the day, as Edison had wanted some more time to finish up Bane's new weapon, and also didn't want Bane coming in during regular hours so he could remain at the counter. Unlike Joe, Edison was the only person working at his shop, but that was only because he didn't trust anyone do to as good of a job as he did on gear. It might seem absurd for him to do so, but considering it had kept him in good business for the past 15 years, he wasn't worried.

Bane walked into the shop, and straight to the counter. This time, a blonde man stood at the counter, with a bit of armor over his normal clothes. A plain sword lay on the counter in front of him. Bane walked up beside him, and asked "So what did you need fixed?"

The man jumped, barely preventing himself from screaming. He turned to Bane and asked, "How long have you been there?"

"About 5 seconds. But what are you here for?"

The man sighed, he still had to work on his attention to his surroundings. Then he smiled, realizing that something to work on meant more time with Pyrrha. He focused on Bane again. "I'm getting my shield fixed. An Ursa got a few good swings into it, so it has a big dent in the middle."

Bane laughed, then said "The last person I met here needed their shield fixed too, except that was from a Deathstalker's tail."

"That was my partner, Pyrrha. Our team killed that Deathstalker together."

Bane's eyes widened. Joe had been telling him about most of the known Grimm, since he would be fighting them soon enough. He knew how much armor plating they had, as well as how dangerous Deathstalkers were, and how hard it would be to take it down. Clearly, there was more to this boy than he had thought.

The man scratched his head. "So why are you here?"

"I'm picking up a weapon Edison made for me." Bane replied.

"Cool. Mind if I stick around to see it? I know he has a training room in the back, so you'll probably be testing it here, right?"

"Yeah, probably. If Edison is alright with it, you can stay. I'm Bane by the way." Bane put out his hand.

The man took it and shook. "Jaune. I've met Edison a few times, so I doubt he'll mind me watching. I've used his training room often enough."

Edison walked in, holding a plain white shield, other than a few decorative lines and a few vertical grooves on it. "Here ya go Jaune. Bane, good to see you again." Jaune took the shield, and it collapsed into a sheath for the sword that had been laying on the counter. "I've got your weapon in the training room already for you."

"Mind if Jaune comes along?" Bane asked.

"I see you two have met. I have no issues with it, so long as he doesn't knock over another rack."

"I told you, a sword slid towards me, and I jumped backwards into the rack. A complete accident!" Jaune exclaimed.

Edison just laughed, and motioned for them to follow him. Once they got into the small room with the weapons, Edison gestured towards a workbench near the back with a few tools and black sword and shield laying on top. Bane picked it up, and noticed the considerable weight difference in comparison to the last sword and shield pair he had used.

"I'm just going to send you up against a couple of bots to make sure this works. Then I'll start showing some of the 'surprises'. But put these on, just in case." Edison grinned, handing Bane metal bracelets and anklets. Bane raised his eyebrows, but put them on, covering the bracelets with the sleeves of his hoodie, and the anklets with his pants. Edison was excited as he always was when his weapons were used, especially the unique ones. "I didn't worry about the weight, considering how you handled the previous weapons."

Bane nodded, then stepped into the large room. Once he was outside the room, Jaune turned to Edison and asked "So how good is he?"

Edison shook his head. "As far as I've seen, he's good, although I doubt anyone knows how good he is, even him. But bots are no real challenge to most people. You were able to take them on your first day here, and from what I've heard, you had next to no training before Beacon."

"Yeah. But I'm better now, especially with Pyrrha's help."

They turned back to the room in time to watch three bots rise from the floor. Bane turned to face the window, his back to one bot, the others on either side of him. Bane smiled, and closed his eyes.

"What is he doing?" Jaune asked.

"Just a guess, but I think he's going to just listen for them rather than watch." Edison chuckled a bit. "Show-off."

Bane continued standing, until all three bots charged at him at the same time, swinging their swords horizontally. Bane didn't even open his eyes, but waited until the last second before leaping into the air, performing a backflip over the bot behind him. The bots stopped their swings, narrowly avoiding impaling each other. Bane landed behind the bot, eyes still closed, and his sword through the bots back. It fell forward, out of commission. The other two bots turned to him, one swinging his sword from above, the other horizontally once again. Bane blocked the horizontal one with his shield, stepping away from the other bot's swing while swinging his own sword through the same bot's arm, then spinning away from the first bot while slicing his sword through the second to finish him off. The first bot stood with its sword at the ready, still fully intact, waiting for Bane to make a move. Bane stood waiting, still with his eyes closed. When he heard no movement from the other bot, he raised his shield and dashed forward, ramming his shield into the bot's sword and forcing it into the bot itself. The bot flew across the room, it's sword broken, part of the blade embedded in the bot's head. It got up, with a few glitches slowing it from the sword short-circuiting it.

Bane waited again, and the bot threw the remainder of the sword at him. Bane rolled to the side, and the shard slid harmlessly to the other end of the room. Bane waited again for the bot to take action. He didn't have to wait long, as the bot charged forward, swinging its fist from above towards Bane's head. Bane dropped the shield and sword, trusting that Edison's work couldn't be bent by the landing. Bane blocked the fist with crossed arms, stopping the arm in its tracks. He pushed the bot back, almost throwing it back into the wall. He suddenly felt something clamp onto his leg, and glanced down, eyes shooting back open. He shield had mostly disassembled, replaced by boots that automatically formed onto his feet, using the anklets as guides. His sword and the rest of his shield were folding into gauntlets, which clamped onto his bracelets before adjusting for his hands, covering them, with the blade having separated into smaller blades on each knuckle. Bane grinned, looking at the one-way window Edison was behind, not realizing Edison was standing there grinning in absolute glee.

Bane turned back to the bot, planning on taking his time with it to get used to the gauntlets. He decided that he should keep his eyes open now, just to see what the new modifications could do. The sword piece in the bots head had fallen out, leaving a gash in the bot's face, but not causing any problems anymore. It swung it's fist low, aiming for Bane's stomach. Bane punched the arm as it came close, diverting it away from him and causing the bot to stumble. Bane spun, swinging his armored boot into the bots back, sending it flying into the wall again. It stood without a problem, charging at him again. The bot planted one foot and swung it's other foot, aiming for Bane's side this time. Bane jumped over the bots leg and head, then spun mid-air to punch the bot in the head. The bot's head was crushed by the blow, disabling it.

Bane walked towards the door as it opened and Edison walked out. Bane grinned, then asked, "Any more surprises?"

"Just one" Edison replied. "Fold your hands and put your feet together."

Bane complied, and the armor began folding together. Bane kept his hands together, expecting a sword and shield in his hands. He was surprised when his hands were forcibly turned upwards, and in his hands he held… "What is this Edison?"

Edison's jaw dropped, and then he face palmed. "I remembered to ask if you had only used fists, but I forgot to ask if you had ever used a gun."

Jaune laughed, then said "Hand it here, I'll show you."

"Bad idea Jaune, this weapon was made for his strength, which is a lot more than you think." Edison warned.

"I'm stronger than I look too!" Jaune exclaimed, reaching for the gun. He grabbed it, and… remained in that position, other than the fierce grimace on his face. "Or maybe not" Jaune muttered, backing away.

"So I'll just show you" Edison finished, turning back to the small room. He rummaged around a bit in the room before targets began showing up on the walls. Edison walked out with an identical weapon to Bane's. "This is the model I copied yours from, so most of the specs are the same, other than the weight. I would never be able to fight with your weapons, considering how hard a time I have carrying them. It's part of the reason I left it in this room rather than taking it up front." He continued talking to Bane, explaining exactly how to use the weapon, and demonstrating the scope on the weapon, a sniper. After Edison took a few shots at the furthest left target, Bane tried on the next target over, hitting just on the edge. He adjusted slightly, and fired again, hitting closer to home. After only a dozen shots, there were five marks surrounding the bulls-eye, and 2 that hit it dead-on.

Jaune's jaw had dropped at this point. "I spent a week with Pyrrha's gun just to hit the target. You just hit the bulls-eye in a matter of minutes!"

Bane shrugged. "I'm a fast learner. Thanks for the weapon Edison, this is incredible! Wait… how do you turn it back to the sword and shield?"

Edison laughed. "There's a button just in front of the bolt, and another just short of the barrel. If you hit them both at the same time, it switches back."

"So drop the weapons to get gauntlets and boots, fold hands and put feet together for sniper, and buttons for sword and shield." Bane mused.

"Yeah, I really have to find a different way to switch them." Edison muttered. "But until then, you just have to deal with these."

They walked back to the front shortly before a scream could be heard outside. Edison and Bane glanced at Jaune, who raised his hands defensively, "Not me this time."

They heard the scream again, and sprinted out the door, Edison grabbing a pistol on the way out. Bane glanced at it and raised his eyebrows at him.

Edison noticed his glance and grimaced. "I can make weapons, but I mostly can't use them. I can teach you some of the basics, but I can't learn anything past that." He grinned lopsidedly. "Too old, my doctor claims."

They passed through the door, looking up and down the street for the source of the scream. They saw a black blur disappear around the corner, and gave chase.

**{A/N} I'm an awful person, so here is where the chapter ends. However, for the sake of my readers, I'll try to put out the next one very close to the same time as this one. Reviews, positive or negative (but constructive), are always appreciated. **


	4. Chapter 4: Where was Security?

Chapter 4

**{A/N} First off, sorry for taking so long to upload after saying I would get the next chapter out soon. Second, Blitzxs brought up a good point by saying I may be making Bane a bit too good to improve him at all later. However, all that Bane has fought so far are drunks and robots, which even Jaune could take down his first day. The bots are not as strong as you think. **

Bane, Jaune, and Edison ran around the corner and skid to a halt. They could see a girl cowering in the corner of a building, and in front of her, a pair of Ursai were slowly trudging towards her. Bane switched to his sniper and took a shot at one's head, aiming just below the mask. The Ursa fell forward, killed instantly. Seeing the Ursa fall, the girl looked up and saw the trio coming towards her. She ran towards the dead Ursa, using it as an obstacle to prevent the other one from reaching her. This lead the Ursa straight towards the trio, where Jaune ran forward and stabbed at it's heart. The Ursa avoided the sword, and swung it's paw at him. Jaune deflected the blow with his shield and backed away. The Ursa roared, and Edison took that moment to shoot the beast in it's mouth. The bullet passed into the brain, killing that Ursa the same way the last one had died.

Bane turned to the girl and asked "Are you all right?"

"Yeah. I forgot my weapon at school, so I had no chance against those Ursai. Thank you all."

Edison glanced at the two dead Ursai, then asked "How did these Ursai get in here anyway? Most of the time they're too afraid to come anywhere near civilized places."

"I have no idea" the girl said.

Jaune had been staring at the girl for a little bit, which Bane only now noticed. Jaune finally spoke up "Your Velvet, right? Do you want me to walk you back to Beacon?"

Velvet smiled. "Thanks Jaune, that's a good idea."

Bane was surprised. He hadn't expected to run into so many students from Beacon so soon. "I might see you guys again. I'm planning on going to Beacon as well."

"You would do well there" Velvet said. "By the way, you know my name, but what's yours?"

"Bane" he answered.

"I'll remember that" she said.

Jaune thought of something, then asked Bane, "Where are you staying, if you aren't already going to Beacon?"

"Staying at Joe's bar. It's a few block from the dock, and…"

Jaune cut him off, "Oh yeah, that place. Nice guy. Well, see you later Bane!"

Jaune walked off with Velvet trailing, who was still a little shaken by her encounter.

Edison turned to Bane, then asked "So I'm guessing you know what a faunus is then?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, most people would be a lot more surprised by a girl with rabbit ears coming out of her head" Edison laughed.

Bane shrugged, grinning. Then he got serious. "I've been meaning to ask something. Why are you giving me this weapon? Obviously, most people would pay a lot of money for something like this."

Edison cocked his head sideways. "Joe's paying me, of course. Didn't you know that?"

Bane thought about this, then answered, "I had guessed, but I wasn't sure. So why is he paying for this then? He doesn't know me at all."

"He's done the same for a few kids while he's run that bar. The first time he did it, the kid didn't last through the initiation at the school. He never forgave himself, and that's when he started coming to me for help with it. I give the kid a general test with the bots, and if they pass, he sends them to Beacon. Otherwise, he finds somewhere else for them to make a living of some sort."

"Are there any kids at the school right now from him?" Bane asked.

Edison thought about this, then replied "I think there was a pair of twins that he sent there a few weeks ago. Their parents died from an explosion during a raid by the White Fang. Joe was good friends with them, so they stayed with him for a while and I let them take out their frustrations on my bots. They were naturals, so he convinced them to go to Beacon."

"Do they hate faunus now?"

Edison laughed. "Ask them that when you meet them."

Bane was confused, but he didn't ask further about it. They had been walking while they talked, and had reached Joe's bar. Most of the visitors there recognized Bane, and had no problem with him being in the bar. The few that didn't knew Joe well enough to guess why he was there, especially when Edison walked in with him. Joe had been talking with some customers, but excused himself when Bane walked in.

"I've got to talk with you about something Bane. Let's go up to your room for a bit." They walked upstairs, and Joe continued "It's about your application to Beacon. Since you aren't considered an adult yet, you need a guardian to sign off on your application. I have to ask if you are alright with me signing as your guardian."

Bane laughed, causing Joe some confusion. Bane explained, "You got me an incredible weapon, and gave me a place to stay while I wait to go to Beacon. I don't think there's any better way you could protect me."

Joe laughed, then said "Well, I had to make sure. You should be able to go to Beacon by tomorrow, so you might as well be ready to go."

"I've been ready for a while. I don't have much, so it all fit into that backpack we got on the weekend."

"Perfect. Well, you have the rest of the day to yourself, so enjoy it."

Someone knocked on the door, and Joe went to answer it. It was an employee, who spoke quickly to Joe, who turned to Bane. "Do you know a Jaune?"

"Yeah, met him at Edison's. Why?"

"He's waiting at the door with his team. They were around town anyway, so they came by to show you around town… again" Joe finished with a small laugh. Bane grinned, then walked outside to see the team, Jaune, the girl he remembered Jaune had called Pyrrha, a bouncing girl with orange hair, and an almost bored-looking man with black hair and a green tailcoat.

"Bane, you probably remember Pyrrha." Jaune began.

Bane nodded in her direction. "Nice to see you again."

"Nice to see you too Bane." Pyrrha answered. Bane noticed Jaune looked slightly uncomfortable with this interaction, but he continued introductions.

"And these two are Nora" the girl waved quickly, then went back to bouncing. "And Ren" the man waved, then went back to trying to hold the girl solidly on the ground. "They're a… unique pair."

"So everyone at Beacon has a partner and a team?" Bane asked. While Joe had talked a lot about what a hunter had to do, he hadn't spoken much about the school he had to go to to become a hunter.

"Yeah. The process for finding partners was entirely random, so it's quite lucky that most of us ended up with people we get along with." Pyrrha replied. Jaune continued to look uncomfortable, and Bane was beginning to realize why. He would have to ask about it later. Pyrrha continued, "The teams were chosen by two pairs picking the same relic during a test, so again, it lucky we ended up together."

Bane nodded, wondering how he would be paired up. "Well, where to?"

* * *

"Sir, we've got a problem" the soldier announced.

"Now what?" a man answered, lighting another cigar.

"The Ursai were killed within minutes of release."

"Really? By whom?" the man turned to the soldier, making him slightly nervous.

"We know two of the three people. Jaune Arc from Beacon, and Edison from Edison's Arms. But the other man is a complete mystery to us. Our only lead is that the weapon he used must have come from Edison, the design was definitely his."

"Well that's a problem." The man took another drag, releasing the smoke slowly. "Add a Deathstalker to the mix, that should keep them busy enough."

"Are you sure sir? We only have one of those."

The man smiled and looked directly at the soldier. He was shaking like a leaf by now, realizing what he had just brought on himself.

"Do I look ignorant?" the man asked rhetorically. "I know we only have one. But if this succeeds, it will be worth it. I consider everything when I work, and you will have to remember that."

"I'll remember it next time sir" The soldier saluted, hoping he would merely be sent out.

"I'm sure of it" the man said, then swung his cane into the soldier's leg. It buckled, sending him to the ground. The man swung his cane into the soldier's arm, hard enough this time to break it. Before he could yell in pain, the man swung the cane back into the soldier's head, knocking him out cold. Two more soldiers walked in and carried the first soldier out of the room.

* * *

JNPR and Bane were walking back to Joe's bar. They had spent the rest of the day walking around town, the boys trying to avoid shops at all costs, the girls almost dragging them towards the stores. For the most part, the guys were able to avoid embarrassment, and spent the girls' shopping time talking about Beacon, including the various classes. As they came within sight of the bar, Edison ran up, carrying his pistol.

"Guys, we've got a problem. Remember those Ursai earlier today?"

Jaune and Bane nodded, while NPR simply looked confused. Edison glanced at them, but continued "Well it looks like that was only a test. There's a massive outbreak of Grimm in the same area now, and most of the town's security is there, fighting them off. But they still need help."

"We're in" Jaune instantly replied. Bane just nodded, while Nora continued to look confused.

"So... what?" Nora asked.

"We get to kill Grimm." Ren replied.

"Oh… awesome!" Nora was back to bouncing, but stopped when she thought of something. "When?"

"As soon as we get there."

"Well what are we waiting for?" Nora grabbed Ren's hand and sprinted away, almost dragging Ren along before he got back on his feet. The rest of the group followed after a unanimous shrug, and arrived just outside of town to see Nora blasting her hammer through an Ursa's head, then flying to another before the previous could hit the ground. Ren was less conspicuous, cutting down Beowolves and Ursai alike. Jaune and Pyrrha rushed in together, Jaune clearly more confident than he was against the Ursai earlier that day. Bane changed to his sniper, taking out Grimm that made it past the rest, or changing to his fists and boots if one came close. Edison stayed near Bane, realizing how helpless he was at close range. The security teams kept together, holding their own with the occasional help from JNPR, and Bane taking out a Beowolf shortly after it tackled a security member. The man gave a thumbs up, thanking him for the support.

"NORA!" Ren yelled, bringing everyone's attention to Nora. A Deathstalker had appeared behind her, and was stabbing it's stinger downwards. Nora turned, moving slightly to the side. The stinger grazed the head of her hammer, leaving a long scratch. She leapt back from the scorpion-like creature, then turned and ran back to Ren, as Jaune and Pyrrha joined him. Bane was on his way, but cutting down Grimm on the way. There were very few left, and the security team could now finish off the smaller Grimm. The Deathstalker charged JNPR, stabbing it's stinger in the middle of the group. Jaune and Nora dove right while Pyrrha and Ren leapt left. Bane reached the group, holding his shield and sword, and ran to stand between the two pairs.

The Grimm swung one claw towards Jaune and Nora while it's stinger descended yet again towards Pyrrha and Ren. Jaune blocked the stinger and Nora slammed her hammer down on the claw, causing a crack to appear in it's armor. Meanwhile, Pyrrha had sidestepped the claw, and Ren leapt onto the stinger and began hacking the tail as it rose. Bane tried stabbing his sword into the creature's mouth, but was repeatedly blocked by the armor. He changed to his armor, and began pummeling near the mouth instead, blocking it's pincers with his gauntlets when necessary. The armor slowly cracked and fell away from the constant bombardment, and Bane switched back to his sword and shield to try stabbing again. He could reach the mouth now, but it didn't seem to affect the beast much.

Ren was continuing to hack at the creature's tail, annoying it. With it's concentration on Ren, Pyrrha had circled around to it's less armored rear. She thrust her spear forward, stabbing deep into the Deathstalker, causing it to squeal. It turned and swung a claw towards her, throwing off Ren, but leaving Bane, Jaune, and Nora free to attack it's rear yet again. Bane and Jaune stabbed their swords in the creature while Nora leapt onto the creature's back and continued pounding away it's armor. As a large hole appeared in the armor, Pyrrha joined Nora, stabbing into the creature and puncturing it's heart. It let loose another squeal, and began bucking around like a stampede bronco. Pyrrha was thrown off, her spear still in the creature, while Nora held onto the base of it's tail for support, remaining on it's back. The beast slowed it's bucking, and sank to the ground in defeat, slowly dying. It gave out gasping wheezes, but Nora had had enough. She raised her hammer and brought it down on the creature's head, finally silencing it. She dropped from the creature, her bubbly nature gone after the fight.

While Bane and Jaune made sure the creature was dead and Pyrrha retrieved her spear, Ren walked over to Nora. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. It just sounded… so pitiful. I've never heard a creature of Grimm sound so helpless."

Ren was surprised, but simply gave her a hug, which she gratefully fell into. They separated, and walked back to the others, who were now certain the creature was dead. They began walking slowly walking back into town, passing Edison on the way. "Well done guys. That was impressive, even if it didn't involve the stinger being the killing blow." He grinned, but stopped when he noticed the somber expressions on some of their faces. "You guys alright?"

"Yeah." Ren answered. "Just a bit of an… unexpected ending to the Deathstalker."

Edison shrugged, figuring no one had been physically hurt. He wasn't very good with emotions, so trying to help in that aspect was hopeless. They reached Joe's bar to find it crowded with people all talking at once. JNPR waited at the door with Edison as Bane snaked his way through the people to Joe, still at his bar. "What's with the party?" Bane asked.

"Apparently there was a dust raid at the docks at the same time that an outbreak of Grimm appeared. People think it might be planned, and the police are looking around for some sort of transport the Grimm could have been in."

"We helped kill all those Grimm, JNPR, Edison and I" Bane mentioned.

Joe laughed, "Looks like Beacon's students have been busy. Apparently some of RWBY helped stop the dust raid, although the ringleader still escaped."

"Torchwick?" Bane asked

"Yep. Out and about, once again." Joe answered.

* * *

"Why wasn't RWBY occupied? They should have been first on the scene when our Grimm attacked! Instead, they had no problem messing up my plans again." Torchwick paced back and forth, another cigar in his mouth.

"Apparently JNPR was in the area, and was able to repel the creatures with the help of that stranger again."

Torchwick growled. This newcomer had caused problems twice for them in just the past 24 hours. And his sources informed him he was now enrolled in Beacon as well! "Find out where this boy came from. People like this don't just pop out of nowhere."

"We managed to trace the boy to a certain Joe, owner of 'End of the Day Bar'."

"That's it? You people work so slow!"

"We're working as fast as we can, but the problem is the information just doesn't seem to exist. Even the government files can't point us in the right direction!"

Torchwick slammed his cane into the ground. "That isn't even possible! The government has tracked every human and faunus in existence for the past hundred years!"

"We know sir. We're still looking."

"You better be" Torchwick growled.

**{A/N} I just noticed that I've been focusing more on JNPR than on RWBY, and yet characters in the description include only team RWBY characters. If this keeps up, I'll switch the characters, although most likely I'll just involve RWBY more. Also, if the title of the chapter didn't inform you, this is my "explanation" of why there were no guards for the dust shipment Roman Torchwick tried to steal.**


	5. Chapter 5: Beacon

Chapter 5: Beacon

Bane woke up, and immediately smiled. Today was the day he was actually joining Beacon. Ozpin had seen footage of him fighting the Grimm the previous day, and believed he had the skill to join the school. He turned off the alarm on his clock before it could ring, his excitement having woken him up earlier than planned. He grabbed his backpack and began the long trek to Beacon, keeping his weapon in it's armor form, the easiest to carry.

* * *

"Sir, we've located him. He's making his way to Beacon now. Our sources tell us it's his first day."

"On his own? That's just too good to pass up, now isn't it? Looks like it's time for a welcome party. Who do you recommend we send?"

"We recently recruited two mercenaries. They failed their last job, but mainly because they got separated during the fight. It should be easier to stay together with Bane."

"Ah, yes. Excellent choice. I was thinking the same myself. Get them on a bullhead and have them meet him about halfway up the mountain. If they can't kill him directly, they can toss him off the cliff."

* * *

Bane had finally jogged the foot of the mountain, but was already panting. _Apparently my endurance isn't nearly as good as my strength. _He slowed to a walk and tried finding something to interest him as he walked. He watched several bullheads flying overhead, a few flying into Beacon. _Probably students returning from their homes._ He was a good distance up the mountain when he noticed one bullhead flying much lower than the others. It reached the cliff, hovered there for a while, then flew back the way it had come. _Strange. Students wanted a decent walk before school? _He shrugged it off, and continued his trip. About a minute later, he heard metal scraping on metal, and looked up. A short way up the path stood a woman in a pure red dress, red claws on her hands. She was scraping them together, leaning up against the cliff. Another woman in a similar white dress stood beside her, but with bladed heels rather than claws. She glanced up at his footsteps, and nudged the one in red. She in turn glanced up, and gave an evil grin.

"uh… good morning." Bane broke the silence.

The woman in white laughed. "That depends on your point of view, I suppose. To us, this is a wonderful morning. To you however…" She had walked to the middle of the path during her little speech, moving closer to the drop-off the cliff on Bane's right.

"Let's just say we plan on this being your last morning." The one in red finished. She leapt towards Bane, swinging her right claw towards him. He blocked it with his fist, then swung his fist into her cheek. She recoiled while her partner took her place, swinging her feet faster than Bane thought should be possible. He blocked with his fists as well as his feet, biding his time, waiting for an opening. He saw it as she kicked with one foot, then the other, raising both feet into the air. He grabbed her second blade, twisting her ankle while snapping the blade. She fell to the ground while the red one leapt over her, swinging her claws again. Bane caught them in his hands and pushed her back, trying to make her trip on the white-clad woman. She leapt into a backflip instead shortly before her partner rose again. They stood side by side, determined to overpower Bane.

Bane changed his armor into his sword and shield, temporarily surprising the pair. He took the opportunity to ram his shield into the red one, knocking her away. The white one swung her good shoe up to the right side of his hip, which he blocked with his sword. She tried kicking him with her broken shoe, which was still clad in metal, but he blocked with his shield. He swung his now free sword towards her shoulder, but she ducked and swung her good shoe towards his chest. He jumped backwards, eyes widening as he felt the edge of the cliff below him. The woman in white grinned and swung again. He ducked and rolled forward, away from the cliff edge, then lifted his shield towards her. He felt an impact on his shield as her foot connected, and he pushed back. Now she was hanging near the cliff edge, but her partner distracted him again, slicing towards his head. He ducked under her swing, swinging towards her waist in the process. She blocked with her claws, and her partner swung her shoe towards him again. He twisted away, standing in front of the pair again.

"This is starting to look like a stalemate here." Bane said, grinning slightly.

"I'd be happy to change that." The one in red growled, charging forward, her partner following shortly behind. Red came from above, which Bane blocked with his shield, while White swung at his waist again, which Bane deflected with his sword. He rammed his shield into the red one, blocked another blow from a shoe-blade by twisting his sword, then swung his shield into the white-clad lady. She stumbled back, and he swung his sword towards her again. She deflected the blade, and he spun with the deflection back towards the red woman, who blocked it with her claws again, recoiling from the blow. She came back at him, slicing time and again, soon followed by her partner. They forced him back to the cliff, then continued the onslaught. He blocked and deflected repeatedly, teetering on his heels. He was out of options. He couldn't get his feet behind him to ram through with his shield, and his sword was too busy deflecting blows to try going on the offensive. He changed to his armor, blocked the red one's claws... and flipped backwards off the cliff.

The pair stood in surprise, then walked to the edge of the cliff. They looked over the edge, searching for a body. "See him Militia?"

The one in red shook her head. "Nothing." She turned to walk down the path for a closer look, when she heard a scream. She turned around, and her eyes widened to see Bane with his foot planted on Melanie's back. "How…?"

Bane raised a fist. "Apparently, these claws are excellent for climbing." he indicated the small points coming off his gauntlet's knuckles. Militia charged, and Bane stepped off Melanie to block the attack, then switched to the offensive, bringing his own small set of claws into the equation. He landed several blows before Melanie rose again, dazed and angry. She charged Bane from behind, but he heard her footsteps and stepped aside, letting her fly past to land by her sister. Melanie attacked Bane while Militia stepped back to call back the bullhead to pick them up. She soon rejoined the fight, Melanie having suffered a couple blows as well. They switched back to offensive, trying to hit him, stun him, force him back to the cliff, ANYTHING. But with his fists and feet both covered by armor, he blocked most of the blows, while stepping back to avoid the others. He glanced up to see a bullhead above him, turret trained on him. He changed back to his shield and blocked the first few bullets, thankful for the metal the shield was made of. He dove behind a rock from the cliff, peeking out to see the Melanie helping Militia into the bullhead. He waited until the bullhead had flown off, then watched it disappear into the distance.

"Well that was a thing." Bane heard from behind him. He turned to see a woman with long blonde hair standing behind him, grinning. "Sorry I didn't manage to help you out there. I can't fly down the mountain, so I was stuck with walking. Nice job though."

"uh… thanks." Bane scratched his head. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Oh yeah, I'm Yang, from team RWBY. I'm a student at Beacon." She put out her hand, which Bane shook.

"Bane."

She gave him a long look, trying to tell if he was serious. When he didn't flinch, she replied "Cool. Never heard a name like that."

"Never heard one like yours either"

"True that."

* * *

"Sir, the mercenary twins you sent out have failed."

"Stronger than we thought I guess. Still, those two have to be taught a lesson for their failure. Cut their pay in half. It's still a better pay than most can afford anyway."

"Yes sir. Any other plans for Bane?"

"What ever became of that unknown energy signature we detected coming from Joe's bar?"

The soldier fumbled a bit, confused by the change of topics. "The scientists haven't made much progress. They've checked it with every known frequency, but can't find a match. Whoever, or whatever, made this was extremely powerful."

"Yes, that's what I thought. That's why we're focusing all of our research on this... frequency."

"Yes sir. What plans for this frequency?"

Torchwick smiled. "That. Depends entirely on what we find."

* * *

Bane and Yang continued the long trip up the mountain, Bane glad it wasn't just him anymore. "So what were you doing down there?" he asked.

"I had seen that bullhead stop partway up the mountain, which definitely wasn't normal. So I looked over the edge of the cliff, and saw those two bitches walking out."

"So you know those two?" he looked over at her. She didn't look like she could fight much, but team JNPR had taught him to expect more, from Beacon students anyway.

"Yeah, was trying to get information from their boss. Or at least their old boss. I'm not even sure he's alive anymore."

Bane's eyes widened, and he looked at her again. She was talking about killing a man like it was nothing. Then his eyes narrowed again. "Wouldn't you be in court or jail if he had died?"

"No, the government here is shit. The only protection we have is the police, and even that is privately funded, and they aren't very strong. The government mostly focuses on economic things, only worried about making money. That's why they don't care what Roman Torchwick does. He only steals from private companies, leaving all the government's money alone. Smart-ass bastard."

Bane didn't bother interrupting as she continued her rant on the government's failings and Torchwick's misuse of these failings. She continued on until they reached the top, where they were met by three other girls, one dressed in white, another in red and black, and, surprisingly enough, the faunus girl he had seen at the café.

"Yang! Where were you? And who's this?" the red and black one asked.

"Oh, just trying to visit some old friends." She smiled a bit. "And this guy I met while I was heading down the mountain."

"Really? So, how annoying do you think she is so far?" the white dressed one asked

Yang opened and closed her mouth a few times, which Bane had to laugh at, then said "Well, other than the constant political talks and complaints about the lack of government involvement, not bad."

Now it was White's turn to let her jaw drop. The red and black one spoke up again "Politics? Government? Yang, where on earth did you learn this?"

She grinned, putting her hands behind her head. "What can I say, I do my homework."

"Not really. You're still three assignments behind in Professor Port's class alone"

"Aww, come on Blake. I meant my self-assigned homework."

Blake rolled her eyes, but she was smiling at the same time. She looked at Bane and said, "Well, since Yang isn't going to do it, I'll introduce us. The hyper one in red and black is Ruby, and the one in the white is Weiss."

"Hi" Ruby said.

Bane laughed, then said "My name is Bane."

"Nice to meet you Bane." Weiss said.

Yang then realized something. "This is your first day, isn't it? Does Ozpin know you're here?"

"He does now." A stranger said

They turned to the speaker, a tall, white-haired man with a suit on and glasses perched on his nose. "Welcome to my school Bane. I see you are already getting along with the students."

"Yeah, although I can't see many people not getting along with these four."

Behind him, Ruby and Blake blushed, Yang had a wild grin, and Weiss simply raised her eyebrows, only just managing to keep from face-palming.

"I think you may have to become more acquainted with this team before making that analysis." Ozpin smiled. "But first, you should meet the team you will be joining. Have you heard of the previous students Joe brought here?"

Bane shrugged. "All I really know is that they're twins and that their parents were killed a couple months ago."

"Well, not much more I can tell you than that. The rest you will have to ask yourself. RWBY, do you know which dorm belongs to Nathan and Evelynn?"

"Sure. It's just a few doors down from ours" Ruby spoke up.

"Excellent. Please lead Bane there, and ensure that none of them kill each other. I will see you all later." Ozpin walked back towards the school, leaving a nervous Bane with RWBY.

"Come on. I'm sure those two aren't THAT violent." Yang was smiling again, enjoying Bane's discomfort.

"You're not helping Yang."

They walked back to their dorms, stopping on the way to point out RWBY's dorm as well as JNPR's. They approached Bane's new dorm just in time to hear a small explosion. "Seriously? What is with you and blowing up dust?" a female yelled from inside the dorm.

"I'm trying to get my weapon to work, but I can't get the right combination! It's not my fault I know nothing about dust except that it's powerful!"

Weiss' eyes widened before she slammed open the door, causing both of the twins to jump. "What dust are you using?" She asked instantly. Her face was entirely emotionless now, something RWBY had noticed happened only when talking about her weapon or her dust.

"p-p-purple… and red" the one answered. He was sitting on the floor with a large double-bladed axe, definitely a two-handed weapon. There was a small compartment open close to the blade, and a few traces of dust could be seen in the compartment.

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. "Seriously? Purple has absolutely no combat use, it simply reacts terribly with all combat dusts!" She sighed. "Have you tried only red?"

"…No. I thought combining two would make it more powerful."

"I am SO glad I carry so many of these with me." She pulled out a "dust for dummies" pamphlet and handed it to him. "Just read this. It should help you."

Bane had been looking back and forth between the twins during this time, listening with one ear to Weiss' conversation. _So that's why they don't hate the faunus, even after their parents were killed by the White Fang. They ARE faunus._

"Well, you handled that better than when I knew nothing about dust" Ruby commented quietly

"True. However, I also thought you were a clumsy, insufferable dolt at the time. I still think you're clumsy, but I can apparently deal with you, and you're marks in class argue with the 'dolt' part."

"Aww, thanks Weiss."

"Don't let it get to your head." Weiss warned.

Bane just shook his head. "Well, apparently I'm stuck with introductions this time." He turned to the twins. "I'm Bane, and Ozpin put me with your team. This is team RWBY, Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang." He indicated each team member as he said this, Yang and Ruby waving, Blake just nodding, and Weiss still recovering from her outburst over Nathan's lack of understanding of dust.

"So I'm guessing you know who we are, considering you were talking with Ozpin?" Evelynn asked.

"Yep. We'll leave you guys alone now, since no one is threatening anyone else." Yang waved as she walked out. Blake hesitated, but then walked out, followed quickly by Weiss and Ruby.

"Well, I've seen your weapon Nathan, and I hope your dust works out. But what do you use Evelynn?" Bane was finding himself very interested in weapons after dealing with Edison for so long.

"We're still working on finding the best weapon for me, so I only have a pair of daggers right now." She pulled them out as she said this, and threw one into a target hanging on the wall. It hit near the edge, but this was still a good shot for her, as could be seen by several holes surrounding the target, and less in the target itself. "I've only been working on throwing them for a couple of days, but I'm quite good with close combat. But enough about us. What's your weapon?"

He lifted his gauntlets and indicated his boots. "Well, here's one part" He changed them to his sniper and watched the twins' jaws drop. "Here's another." He changed it again, turning it to the sword and shield. "And the last part."

Nathan raised his hand. "I'm jealous."

"Same here. Where did you get that?" Evelynn was still working on getting her jaw back into it's proper position.

"Edison made it for me. He saw I was good with a sword and shield, he heard I was good with my fists, and he wanted me to have a long-range option."

"So how good are you with your sniper?" Nathan was really wondering how good he was with all of his weapons, but he figured he'd start from what should be the worst.

"I honestly don't know. I've never seen anyone else shoot a sniper except Edison, and he says he isn't very good with weapons."

"Here, let me try" Nathan walked over and tried to take Bane's sword and shield. Bane let them fall once Nathan had a good grip, then laughed as they hit the ground and turned back into his gauntlets. "How… how do you carry those things?"

"Unusual strength apparently. Hang on, see that dandelion on the lawn out the window?"

Nathan turned and spotted it very quickly. "Yeah. Why?" Nathan jumped as he heard an explosion and suddenly he couldn't find the dandelion. He turned to see Bane holding his sniper, a small wisp of smoke dissipating from the barrel

Bane gave a lop-sided grin. "Now you don't." He turned to Evelynn, and saw that her jaw had, once again, dropped.

**{A/N} Threw in Yang's political rant because I was writing this in the middle of my teacher's rant on liberalism. Questions, comments, and reviews in general are always appreciated.**


	6. Chapter 6: First Day

Chapter 6: First Day

**{A/N} I really have no schedule planned out for these chapters, and I'm really just posting them as they are completed.**

Bane had been given his first day off of classes. While Nathan and Evelynn went to class, he had spent his time setting up his area. The twins had made two sets of bunk beds, and had taken one of the two pairs. Bane set up for the top of the other bunk, figuring he could always switch to the bottom if their fourth team member wanted the top. The rest of the day passed uneventfully, Nathan and Evelynn showing him around the school a bit after their classes. They went to the cafeteria to eat, then went to bed.

The next day, Bane's first class was good enough to keep him awake, dueling with Professor Goodwitch. She spoke mostly of some of the different fighting styles that could be performed with a sword, which Bane thought he might try. She finished the class by having several students duel against each other, one of which was Evelynn. As this was actually her first fight in the class, Goodwitch put her up against Jaune. They lined up on opposite ends of the stage, and Goodwitch stepped aside. "Begin."

Evelynn took to the offensive, throwing a dagger at Jaune. He raised his shield and it bounced harmlessly off, but Evelynn had dashed forward as the dagger was flying. She caught the weapon before it hit the ground, and tried slashing him as she passed by, continuing her dash. His aura kept him from being hurt, but it was a close call. He turned and swung his sword at her just after she passed, but just barely missed. He dashed at her and slashed downward, but she crossed her daggers and blocked the swing. He swung his shield at her unprotected side, grazing her as she leapt back. He swung his sword again at…nothing. She had disappeared. He looked around to find her before being hit in the back with the handle of her dagger. He stumbled forward before swinging wildly behind him with his sword, nowhere near her. She dashed forward after his sword passed, giving him a cut on the arm just before Goodwitch called the match to end.

Jaune got up and put out his hand. "Nice job. How did you disappear like that?"

Evelynn shook his hand, and they began walking back to the bench. "Invisibility semblance."

Jaune nodded. "Cool."

They both sat down as Goodwitch announced "Class dismissed." Jaune face-palmed, having only just sat down. Goodwitch gave him an angry look, and he laughed nervously before standing and joining the stampede out of the room.

Next class was Grimm studies with Professor Port. Bane paid good attention until he realized how much of the class was really just Port telling stories of his defeating Grimm, and not much learning about Grimm themselves. His mind drifted, and he thought about the twins he had fought the day before. _Why were they after me? The fact that they were dropped off partway up the cliff and were waiting for me tells me they weren't going after the school, just me. _He came out of his thoughts just in time to hear how Port had slammed his blade into the Deathstalker's head, killing it with a single blow. _Ok, that's not even possible for ME to do. Either he's making that up, or he's a lot stronger than he looks._

"Now let's see. I believe we have a few students who have not yet shown their skills to the school. Bane, I think I'll give you another day to get used to the school before I bring you up here." Port laughed at this, although the rest of the room was silent. Port took no notice, and continued "So, Nathan, will you please come up here?"

Nathan groaned and dragged himself to the front of the room. "Oh don't be so worried. It's only a Boarbatusk."

Weiss' eyes widened as she leaned towards Ruby, both of whom were sitting in front of Bane. "How many of those does he have?"

Ruby shrugged, then replied "Some people say he has his own storage room full of Grimm." She grinned. "Wouldn't it be fun to find that?"

Weiss' jaw dropped before she could stop it, and quickly closed it before answering "I'd like to keep my skin on, thank you very much."

"Aw, come on. We could take them."

"I'm not afraid of being skinned by the Grimm themselves. I just think I might jump out of my skin."

Nathan had reached the front of the classroom, and was holding his battle-axe diagonally, the blade behind him. Port took out his blunderbuss-axe, shooting the lock off the cage holding the Boarbatusk. The Grimm charged, aiming it's tusks for Nathan's stomach. He swung the axe towards the beast's side, not managing to penetrate it's armor, but knocking it far off course. The Boarbatusk rolled back onto it's feet, charging Nathan again, who couldn't swing his axe in time and was forced to dive to the side. The Grimm caught one of Nathan's feet with it's tusk, but the blow was absorbed by his aura. Nathan stood again and pressed a button on his axe. The Grimm rolled into a ball and spun towards Nathan, who stepped slightly to the side of the Grimm's path and swung his axe from behind him towards the ground in an arc, swinging his axe like a golf club. The axe hit the spinning creature, and it rocketed away, blood trailing behind it from the dust-powered blow. It hit the wall and slid down, falling into a shapeless pile on the floor.

"Excellent. Excellent! An incredible display of the power of dust. Tell me, how much dust did you end up using?"

Nathan opened the compartment for dust and pulled out the container. It was missing very little, which surprised him. "And to think I blew up an entire container in our dorm room" he murmured.

"An incredible display indeed!" Port boomed. "Class dismissed."

Bane walked out of the room with the rest of the class, but broke off to wait for Nathan and Evelynn, who had stayed behind for her brother. One of the students noticed him on his own, and quickly looked around to see if anyone was watching. Finding himself in the clear, he walked up to Bane and grabbed him by the front of his shirt with both hands, lifting him off the ground. Bane's eyes widened slightly before looking down at the man holding him up. "Let me introduce myself." The student started. "My name is Cardin. I hear you're the new guy at school, so I figure I should probably give you a crash course introduction. You listen to what I tell you. Got it?"

Bane grinned, then said "Let me introduce myself." He lifted his legs and pushed them against Cardin's chest, knocking him down. Bane used the momentum to flip backwards and land back on his feet. "My name is Bane. And I find your aggressiveness unappealing."

Cardin growled before charging Bane, swinging a fist at his face. Bane ducked under it, letting Cardin punch his shield where he kept it on his back, and punching Cardin in the gut from below at the same time, raising Cardin off the ground slightly. He grunted before swinging his other fist downward at Bane, who simply caught it in his palm. "Let me be more clear, Cardin. Get. Lost." Bane pushed Cardin's fist into his face, knocking him backwards again. Realizing he was finished, Cardin got up and jogged off to find the rest of his team.

Nathan and Evelynn walked out to see Bane standing in the hall, glaring at Cardin's quickly retreating back. "So… I'm guessing you met Cardin?"

"Sort of. We didn't talk long though." They continued on to the cafeteria for lunch, meeting up with team RWBY and JNPR. Nora was, again, bothering Ren, although he didn't seem to mind terribly much.

"Can we pleeeease go get some more sap from Forever Fall forest?" Nora begged.

"Nora, you know that we can't go outside school grounds unless it's in a group of four or more, and Jaune and Pyrrha have history next class. Besides that, you already finished off all of our sap this morning. You have any more, and you will be literally bouncing off the walls."

"Aw, come on Ren. I do that without any sugar."

Ren sighed, continuing with his lunch, and Nora started to look disappointed. Ruby looked up with a smile and said "I don't have next class. I could go with you guys!"

Nora grinned again. "Great! Now we only need one more person!" She turned to look further down the table. "Yang, do you have next class?"

Yang swallowed a massive bite, then answered "Yeah. Not very exciting, but I still have to go."

Bane thought for a second, then asked "What class is it anyway?"

Ruby looked up and replied "History, with Oobleck. I don't have it 'cause I passed the final exam before I even started the class."

Bane's eyes widened, but he quickly recovered. "Well I got out of that one since I don't know any of the history around here, so I have to study out of class before I can start that one."

"There's our fourth group member! Come on Ren, let's go!"

Nora grabbed his hand and ran off again, dragging him off the bench. Bane looked after them and stated "I never even volunteered…"

"But you were volun-told" Ruby laughed before running after them.

They reached the pair just as they walked out of the school. Ren had finally managed to get his feet under him and slowed Nora down long enough to wait for the other two. "So what are we going to carry the sap in?" Bane asked.

Nora paused, but Ren simply sighed. "I've learned to always carry a few jars, since Nora has an obsession with syrup. Plastic jars, so they don't shatter during Goodwitch's class."

Bane nodded, and they continued walking towards the forest. After a few seconds of silence, Ruby got bored again and asked, "So how are you liking Beacon so far Bane?"

"It's… interesting, to say the least. But so far I've enjoyed it."

"Gotten into any fights yet?"

Bane thought, then said, "One very short one with Cardin just before lunch, and I guess you could include the fight I had on my way up the mountain."

Ruby gasped. "You fought with Yang?"

Bane laughed, then answered "No, she was actually going to come help with the fight. Two mercenaries attacked me on the way up, and she apparently had some experience with them. But they took off before she got there."

"I was wondering about that. I didn't see her cleaning her gauntlets afterwards."

"She does that after every fight?"

"Yeah, her hair too. It's one of the few times she isn't extremely loud, which is nice."

They had reached the forest by that time, and they all began looking for a good tree for sap. Nora claimed she never found one, but the sap hanging off her face said otherwise. Ren finally found one, and sent Bane and Ruby to distract Nora while he collected some of the sap. He finished and stood up to find the other three shortly before he heard a loud screech. He looked up to see a Nevermore flying overhead, but it's focus wasn't on him. He turned to where the Nevermore was looking, and saw Ruby and Bane trying to drag Nora away from yet another sap-filled tree. The Nevermore screeched again, then swung it's wings forward, flinging off dozens of it's feathers. "Look out!" he yelled, but he knew it was too late. He raised his hands and summoned his aura into them, then forced it forward, causing a pulse in the air. The feathers deflected away from the three, embedding themselves into the trees nearby. The three saw what had happened, and ran towards Ren as he collapsed, exhausted, but still conscious.

"How did you do that?" Ruby asked.

"It's his semblance." Nora explained. "I've only ever seen him use it one other time, against a King Taijitu. He can force a pulse out of his hands, but it takes more aura the further it has to travel first."

They heard a screech from above and turned just in time to see a feather push through the trees above. It streaked towards Bane, but he leapt out of the way, letting the feather embed itself in the ground. He pulled his shield off his back and his sword from it's scabbard, starting the slow process of turning them into his sniper. Ruby pulled out her sniper and took a few quick shots while Nora fired a grenade into the bottom of the bird's wing. Several feathers fell harmlessly off the Nevermore, angering it. Bane started firing as well, but Ruby was the one who made the shot. A bullet sunk into the Nevermore's eye, not killing it, but forcing it to screech in pain. It reconsidered it's prey, and flew off to find something easier to kill.

Nora turned to Ren, who was now sitting up. He looked up and grinned, raising a jar of sap. "This… is why I use plastic jars." He quickly hid the jar again as Nora's eyes lit up. "No. These ones we save for pancakes, for once."

Bane laughed, then reached down to help Ren up. His knees almost collapsed again before Bane put his shoulder under Ren's. Nora quickly went over to his other side to help support him, and they began the slow walk back to Beacon. Ruby walked away ahead of them to watch out for any more Grimm. "You want to visit the infirmary?" Bane asked.

Ren shook his head. "A rest is all I need. Unfortunately I have one more class."

Nora piped up "I'm in that class too, so I can keep you awake." Ren simply grinned slightly at this, although Bane thought it should have been a horrible idea. They heard a gunshot from ahead, and rushed forward slightly, still trying to support Ren. They found Ruby in a small clearing, several Beowolves surrounding her and another one dead beside her.

"You got Ren, Nora?" Bane asked.

"Yeah. I'll just set him down here." Nora walked Ren over to a tree, lowering him to the ground before sitting next to him, pulling out Magnhild to protect Ren. Bane switched to his gauntlets and ran into the middle of the group, caving in one Beowolf's skull in the process. Ruby nodded towards him, then shot one of the Beowolves in the head as they all charged. Bane covered her back, turning away from the carnage she was wreaking. He punched one in the stomach as it leapt towards him, then grabbed another one's jaw shortly before it could bite his neck. He snapped the beast's neck as he kicked another one that was nearing him. The first Beowolf slashed it's claws in front of him, narrowly missing his stomach. Bane grabbed the claw as it went past, pulling the animal towards him and cracking it's skull with his other fist. The last Beowolf stood at a distance, rethinking it's attack. As it considered running, a bullet went through it's head, ending the thought. Bane had switched to his sniper and finished it off. He turned to find Ruby surrounded by Beowolves, all of which were dead.

"I feel like Beowolves might be a little too easy for me now" Ruby commented. Bane simply shook his head and walked over to Nora and Ren. Ren had recovered somewhat, and could now walk on his own.

"We'd better hurry up, there's only fifteen minutes until the next class starts."

They continued walking, avoiding running as Ren still wasn't fully recovered. They finally exited the forest, realizing just what a hassle a few jars of sap had quickly become. Ren groaned inwardly as he realized that he would still have to find a way to keep Nora from eating the sap before he could make pancakes for it.

The last class of the day for the group was military history. After some debate, the teachers had decided that military history was too important to the school to mix in with general history, so they made a class for military history specifically. Bane was also in this class, as the focus of the class was strategy rather than the history. This class was also absolutely necessary for all team leaders, so Ruby and Jaune were there, as well as both of Bane's teammates, as there was no identified leader among them yet. Ozpin was waiting until a fourth team member could be found before appointing one of them as leader.

Bane was entirely absorbed by the class, finding that he naturally loved strategizing. He picked out some of the key problems with strategies made during different wars presented before Oobleck could point them out, even in his super-hyper state. So when the professor asked "Can anyone tell me what the exact mistake this commander made with his troops?" Bane was ready, and raised his hand immediately as the other leaders narrowed their eyes in concentration. "Yes, Mister…"

Bane realized he was waiting for a last name. "Uh… just call me Bane." He stammered. Oobleck looked confused, so Bane rushed on "He sent all of his troops in at once into the middle of a battle where there were a lot of places to hide. Even though he suspected a trap, he didn't make any plans to account for his suspicions. So when enemies swarmed him, he had no backup."

"Precisely!" Oobleck shouted. "Incredible observation skills Mister Bane. Class, always consider every possibility when moving into a fight. The best advice I can give you is 'hope for the best, but prepare for the worst'. Class dismissed."

The students got up and left the classroom, and Nathan ended up walking next to Bane. "How did you figure that out so fast?"

Bane shrugged. "I was listening to Oobleck's explanation with one ear while thinking through the steps in my head. When he mentioned the commander's suspicion and then didn't mention him acting on it, I figured it out."

Nathan nodded. "Good job. Looks like we have a candidate for leader."

Bane just shook his head. "I doubt I could think that fast in the middle of a battle, or even before one for that matter. Too much pressure."

"We'll just have to see I guess."

They continued on to the cafeteria for their meal, meeting up with RWBY and most of JNPR again. "Where's Ren?" Nathan asked.

"He decided to rest after nearly depleting his aura through his semblance while we were in the forest and a Nevermore attacked and threw some feathers at us, but his semblance changed their course and they ran into a bunch of trees rather than our bodies." Nora rushed out her explanation in one breath, quickly going back to her food afterwards. Seconds later, she got up and walked off, leaving a wide-eyed group behind, other than Jaune and Pyrrha.

"She never likes being away from Ren for long. It's amazing what she can do when she's trying to get back to him." Jaune explained.

Pyrrha nodded, then asked "Remember when she shot you and her over that cliff when we were fighting that Deathstalker?"

Jaune shuddered, then answered "I don't really need a reminder of that."

Bane shook his head, continuing to be amazed by the feats that these students could do. He was almost excited to see what other battles he could witness in the future at this school.

**{A/N} I really need to find a faster way for Bane to change weapons. If anyone has a suggestion, I would love to hear it. And as always, follows, favorites, comments, questions, and other kinds of reviews are always welcome.**


	7. Chapter 7: Newcomer

Chapter 7 – Newcomer

The weekend had arrived, and Bane had no idea what to do. His past week had been filled with classes since he got to Beacon, and before that he had been learning about Vale as well as more of the world. Now, he had no idea what to do for the weekend. Unfortunately, that was all the opportunity Evelynn needed.

"You need more clothes. You came with, what, two sets of clothes? That's ridiculous! You would have to wash clothes every day!"

"Really, I don't mind that much."

"That's fine, we're still getting you more clothes!"

"I don't even have any money to buy clothes!"

"That's why I'm buying them!"

"Where did you get money?"

Evelynn opened and closed her mouth a few times before turning to Nathan. "Where did we get that money again?"

Nathan didn't even look up from his laptop. "Those mercenaries in the forest. After we killed them, we took their weapons and sold them. Quite nice ones too, but they couldn't use them to save their life, obviously." He shook his head. "You'd think mercenaries would learn to stay away from Beacon."

Evelynn shrugged. "Well at least it's a good source of spending money."

Bane shook his head, amazed at how easily people killed each other. It seemed to be a daily occurrence. Evelynn didn't even flinch, but simply continued "Yeah, that's where it came from." She turned back to him. "So, let's go get you some clothes."

Bane hung his head, defeated. He looked up quickly "Nathan, you coming too?"

He just laughed. "Nope, you're on your own."

Bane and Evelynn walked out of the room to find Pyrrha and Jaune in the hall as well. They weren't really getting along, and they soon found out why.

"Jaune, Ren is our teammate. If it's his birthday, we should be getting him something. It's only right."

"But I have no idea what to get him!"

"That's why we look around. Watch for some inspiration."

Jaune sighed before looking up as Bane spoke up. "We're actually on our way into town too. Want to join us?"

Jaune shrugged. "Might as well. If I'm going to suffer, I might as well do it with someone else" This comment earned him a friendly punch from Pyrrha, although it almost knocked him over.

"So you have been working on your stance. I was wondering"

The praise from Pyrrha greatly improved Jaune's mood. He was suddenly looking forward to finding a gift for Ren, and just spending the day with Pyrrha.

They walked out of the school and opted for the bullhead to take them down to Vale, rather than the long climb down the mountain. They were dropped off at the foot of the mountain in a large clear area, and continued on to the clothes store first. Jaune and Pyrrha stood in front of Bane as Evelynn went through dozens of shirts and pants, holding them up to Bane before tossing them towards Jaune, who caught them most of the time, or hung them back up. Bane barely even got a chance to see what was being chosen before they were paid for, but he was pretty sure three of the shirts were identical. As they walked out of the store, Evelynn handed him the bags, finally giving him a chance to see what he was going to be wearing.

Jaune and Pyrrha were walking ahead of Bane and Evelynn, still discussing where to try buying Ren a gift. Evelynn was still walking near Bane, watching his reactions as he sifted through the new clothes, laughing several times as he pulled out shirts with Grimm dancing on the front. He was right, there were several identical shirts. He was about to ask about returning some of the shirts when a purple sphere appeared in front of him. He looked up to see a human form flying towards him, thrown from the sphere. Not being able to drop the bags in time, he lifted his hands to try to catch the person, but was knocked back several feet, landing on his back with a bag landing on his face, having lost his grip. The other person landed on top of him, knocking some of the wind out of him.

Bane groaned "These purple spheres must just have a thing for me."

"Wait, you've seen these before?" a girl asked. Bane noticed it wasn't Evelynn. The bag was pulled off of his face, and the voice spoke again "Where was it? Did someone fly out of it? Wait." The person that came out of the sphere was the one speaking to him. She grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet, surprising him with her strength. As soon as he was standing properly, she grabbed his shoulders and looked him over. He noticed she had purple hair, and was wearing a black hoodie with purple fabric inside, and being shown at the cuffs. She was wearing shorts, black with purple stripes going down each side, with high-top boots to match.

"It is you! Bane!" she pulled him in for a hug, which he didn't return, more from confusion than anything else. She backed off, looking at him in equal confusion.

"Uh, Bane? Do you know her?" Evelynn asked. She was standing where she had stopped when the sphere had appeared, momentarily stunned at the time, although she had the mind to pull out her daggers.

Bane looked over the newcomer again, then shook his head, turning back to Evelynn. "Not that I can remember." He turned back to the newcomer who looked slightly dejected. "Don't take offense to that, I can't remember anything past a week ago right now."

Her jaw almost dropped, but she snapped it back into place by speaking instead. "I told them it wasn't safe for anyone but me. Now look what happened." She sighed, then said "I don't expect you to believe this, but I'm your sister."

Bane simply raised his eyebrows, while Evelynn's jaw dropped. "YOU HAVE A SIS- oh wait. Right. You wouldn't have known that."

Bane shook his head, then looked back at his apparent sister. "So, what's your name?"

"Ashley."

"If you're my sister, why do you have such a normal name?" Bane replied.

"Well, Bane is really just a nickname, although no one used your real name back home anyway. It was Eric, if you want to know."

"I think I'll stick with Bane. Causes too much confusion if I change now."

She nodded, then finally noticed her surroundings. "Where are we?"

"The city of Vale. You actually just scattered the clothes Evelynn bought for me."

She turned and looked around, noticing the various bags laying around her now. "Oh. That's why I had such a soft landing."

"Actually, that was my stomach, but whatever works."

They cleaned up the mess, Ashley introducing herself to Evelynn as well. They continued walking, although much faster to try to catch up to Jaune and Pyrrha, who had not noticed the incident behind them. They reached the pair, who turned at the sound of footsteps. Jaune raised his eyebrows, then asked "So Bane, who is this fine young lady you've dragged along with you?"

Bane hid his smile, and replied "Ashley, this is Jaune…" they shook hands. "…and this is Pyrrha." They shook hands, looking each other over at the same time, then smiling. "Jaune and Pyrrha, this is Ashley, my sister." Both of their jaws dropped, then Pyrrha looked between the two, comparing them, while Jaune tried to get his mouth to function well enough to ask where she had come from.

"I believe it." Pyrrha commented.

"Good. Cause I only learned this about two minutes ago, so it's nice for someone to confirm it." Pyrrha laughed slightly at that, and Bane noticed Jaune glare at him slightly. Bane grinned inwardly, realizing what that look meant.

* * *

"Sir! We've detected a pulse with a similar frequency to the one we tracked to Joe's bar!"

"Excellent. Are we able to more fully analyze this one?"

"Yes sir. It appeared in the middle of a street in Vale, and so there is no distortion. Our experts have made incredible progress already."

"And what have they learned?"

"The frequency is not actually constant. It is constantly oscillating, changing its frequency every nanosecond. They have found the maximum and minimum frequencies, but the pattern is… difficult to decipher. It may not even be possible to duplicate it."

Roman frowned, deep in thought. "Did another person come out of this sphere?"

"Yes, a woman this time. She… met up with Bane immediately after exiting the sphere."

"Does she have any skill in combat?"

"She hasn't fought yet."

Roman grinned. "We'll just have to change that then, won't we? Any suggestions?"

The assistant paused, then said "The best plan would be to drop off some of our men, rather than Grimm or trying mercenaries again. If we can surround them, we can guarantee she will be involved if she has any combat abilities."

"Excellent decision. Choose how many you will send, and see that it is carried out."

"Yes sir" the assistant grinned as she walked away.

* * *

The five students had completed their shopping, and were just returning to Beacon. Bane was trying to get more acquainted with Ashley, which Evelynn helped with greatly. While Bane tried to think of something he would like to know, she would have a list of things to ask, many of which helped Bane as well. Others… not so much. The two girls were discussing the different flowers on their planets, which was one thing Bane had no knowledge or interest in. He began thinking of improvements he could make for his weapon when his thoughts were interrupted by gunshots and a loud scream from up ahead. Pulling his shield off his back, he ran forward, leaving his sword in it's scabbard for now. They came out into the clearing just before the climb back to Beacon, and found chaos. People were running from a bullhead that had just touched down, spilling out black-suited men with red sunglasses and ties, some firing guns at the escaping civilians, others forming up outside the bullhead with swords.

Bane dashed in, pulling his sword out and cutting though one of the soldiers**{A/N}** with the backswing. He glanced up to find more soldiers running in from the streets coming off the clearing, effectively surrounding the original soldiers. _A trap? They'll have to do better than that to catch four students from Beacon… and my sister._ He blocked a sword coming towards him and bashed him in the head, knocking him out. He saw Pyrrha standing back-to-back with Jaune, her firing her rifle at the incoming soldiers, him cutting down the nearer soldiers. Bane whirled around, cutting through another soldier, then blocked bullets from another. He saw Evelynn stabbing a soldier in the back, then disappearing, only to reappear with a dagger in another soldier's throat. Bane dashed at the soldier that was firing at him, cutting him down instantly. A sword stopped an inch from his leg, blocked by a short sword. He looked up to see Ashley holding the sword, a similar sword in the other hand. She cut through the soldier's neck, then turned to find another victim. "Thanks" Bane yelled after her before continuing to take out the soldiers throughout the clearing.

A dagger flew past his head, the handle heading straight for Evelynn, who caught it perfectly. She pulled her other hand back, and the other dagger came back to her as well. _Strings on her daggers? Cool_. The soldiers were nearly gone, the few remaining running away, only to be shot down by Pyrrha. She shot the last one in the knee, and he cried out in pain before falling on his face on the pavement, knocking himself out.

"For the authorities?" Bane asked.

Pyrrha shrugged. "Or Ozpin. He's more likely to follow up on it."

Bane nodded, then walked forward and slung the man over his shoulders. "Let's get going then. Not much we can do for the bodies."

"What bodies?" Ashley asked.

Bane looked around, his eyes widening as he noticed there were almost no bodies lying around anymore. "Where did they go?"

It was Jaune's turn to shrug this time. "We don't really know. Dead people disintegrate almost instantly. It makes for easy funeral services, but that's the only real benefit."

Bane looked around again. "And where's our bullhead?"

Pyrrha checked the town clock. "It left about five minutes ago. I guess we walk now."

Bane sighed before the group began the long climb up the mountain.

* * *

"Sir, all of our men were taken out, save one it seems. The students are taking him to Beacon now."

"And the girl?"

"She has combat experience. She appears to be very good, but she only uses a couple of short swords, which indicates recklessness."

"And you don't think the same of Evelynn?"

"She's different. Her semblance keeps her from getting hurt in such instances, as she tries to remain invisible through the entire fight. The last fight we observed her participating in before this one, she was able to remain invisible through a fight that lasted nearly an hour. Apparently it doesn't take much aura to fuel her semblance."

Roman sighed, then asked "Any progress on that energy signature?"

"None sir. After analyzing each individual frequency in context with the others, we have not yet discovered any patterns."

"So you cannot duplicate it?"

"No, sir. Unless a major breakthrough is made, we will need the source of these signatures to duplicate them."

"Any idea what the source is?"

The advisor shook her head. "No sir."

* * *

Bane flopped the soldier into a chair just outside Ozpin's office, then knocked on his door. "Enter" Ozpin called through the door, and Bane picked up the man again as Evelynn opened the door. The five walked into the room, and Bane settled the soldier back into another chair and stood beside it. The man started waking up, so Bane pulled out his sword and put it under the man's chin. "And who would this be?" Ozpin asked.

"One of the soldiers that attacked Vale" Pyrrha answered. "We brought him here to find out what his purpose was."

Ozpin raised his eyebrows. "I won't bother asking why you didn't take him to the police." He turned to the soldier, who now realized who was sitting in front of him. "Do you know who I am?"

"P-P-Professor Ozpin." The man would have fainted again, but the sword at his throat prevented it.

"Headmaster actually. And so you realize that it would be… beneficial for you to answer me properly, correct?"

"Yes sir." The soldier answered, swallowing nervously.

"Good. Now, what was the reason for you to attack Vale? Attacking in such force as I've already seen on the news is clearly too much for a simple raid."

"We were sent… to test the girl."

"The girl?"

"That would be me, Headmaster." Ashley stepped forward. "I arrived today in a similar manner to Bane, except without the days to prepare a new weapon. Although, that should be unnecessary."

Ozpin nodded. "I've seen you fight. I assume you wish to join Beacon as well?"

"Yes."

"An easy choice, I see. You will join your brother's team. You seem to get along with most of them already."

"Thank you sir."

"Now, back to you, soldier." The man stopped relaxing. "Who sent you to test her?"

"I cannot tell you that." The man stated, his voice shaking.

"I think you will tell me anyway. Because you know that if you don't tell me, there are many different ways that I can cause you pain. And not one would be illegal, seeing as how you attacked several of my students."

The soldier swallowed again, then answered "And if I tell you, Roman would do many more things. Many of them illegal."

"So you're working for Roman Torchwick?"

The soldier's eyes widened, realizing his mistake. Then he roared, charging at Ozpin, but Bane dropped his sword and grabbed the man by the throat, stopping him in midair. He tossed the soldier back into the chair, where he immediately stood back up to charge again. Bane pushed him back into the chair, holding him there this time.

"Why did Roman want to test her?"

"We don't know. We were sent to test her same as this guy was tested by those girls." The soldier jerked his chin at Bane with this statement.

"The twins?" Bane asked.

"Yeah, those two."

"And can you give me their names?" Ozpin asked

"No. They scare me almost as much as Torchwick."

Bane thought back to that fight for a moment. "Do the names Melanie and Militia help?"

The soldier's eyes widened as Ozpin replied "Yes, it does. That would be the Malachite twins. Melanie and Miltiades Malachite. I'm surprised you were able to overpower them."

Bane shrugged. "I surprised them at one point. Surprised myself then too."

"Excellent. Well, sir, I don't believe your services are needed any longer. Would you like us to send you back to Roman?" Ozpin smiled with this comment, expecting the answer.

The man didn't disappoint, screaming "NO" and shoving Bane off of him and running for the door. He stopped in his tracks, then slowly lifted off the ground, slumping over from his waist. Beside him, Ashley stood with a sword embedded in his stomach and was lifting him off the ground with one arm.

"Yes, I think you shall do brilliantly at this school" Ozpin quipped.

**{A/N} I'm just calling these guys soldiers so that every time I speak about one of them, I don't have to say "One of them dudes with the cool sunglasses, the suit, and a tie." See how annoying that would get? And to anyone who noticed, sorry for spelling Miltia's name with an extra i. Reviews, comments, questions, favorites, follows, etc. are always appreciated.**


	8. Chapter 8: The Rescue

Chapter 8 – A small problem

**{A/N} Sitting in the middle of an airport in Amsterdam, and just finished this. Hope y'all are happy with it!**

After the soldier had been interrogated, then disposed of, Bane and his team went back to their dorm to rest. It had been a strange day, with Bane's sister popping up and soldiers attacking as well. They had picked up some clothes for her while in town, since she came with nothing but her weapons and the clothes on her back. All in all, Bane was satisfied with the day, and happy to have a connection to his old life.

Monday rolled around, and classes began again as normal, with one small exception. Team RWBY didn't seem to be around. Bane noticed this in Professor Goodwitch's class, and asked Jaune about it after class had ended.

"They got called out to take out a nearby nest of Grimm. Ozpin excused them from their first two classes."

Bane nodded, then continued on to Port's class. He sat beside his sister, who was eager to learn about the main enemy she would now be fighting. She sat through five minutes of Port's speech, then turned to Bane.

"He doesn't really talk much about the Grimm themselves, does he?" she asked

Bane shook his head. "Just wait for the end and remember how he killed the creature. He might…might… have actually killed it that way, so it could be a weakness."

Ashley nodded, turning back to Port as he continued his story of a scouting party that ran into a small Nevermore nest. She turned back to Bane again, slightly embarrassed that she had to ask. "What is a Nevermore?"

Bane shrugged. "Basically a massive bird. It's feathers are bigger than most humans, and it can throw them from it's wings, which usually turns fatal. I haven't killed one yet, but we fought one for a little bit before it took off."

Ashley's eyes widened, but she simply nodded and turned back to Port to hear of him firing his blunderbuss into the belly of one Nevermore, blasting a hole into it. "See, now that's actually a good tip. Unprotected belly, since it has no bones protecting it's stomach in the way it protects it's lungs and back." Bane commented.

They were dismissed, and they began walking towards the cafeteria. Suddenly, a blur of red bowled through Nathan and ran into Bane, who caught the blur and held it still. "Ruby? What's going on?"

She was out of breath, which already told Bane one thing. There was a problem. "The nest we were sent to destroy was almost empty, so it was really easy. But as we were walking out, most of the nest came back, since they were apparently hunting. A few of the Beowolves were carrying deer with them. We had to fight our way out of their nest, which was much bigger than we had predicted, and there was another nest nearby with a few Deathstalkers. We ran into big trouble getting out, Weiss and Yang are still limping back, and Blake fell behind somewhere, although I saw her climb a tree before I lost sight of her. I have to go tell Ozpin."

"Tell him we're already on the way to get Blake." Bane didn't wait for an answer, but started running immediately, Ashley following after him, Evelynn first helping Nathan off the ground. They passed Weiss and Yang just coming through the door, Weiss being held up by Yang. Weiss had blood dripping from her leg, and Yang had a gash down her arm. They looked like they were in good enough shape to make it to the infirmary, so Bane just kept running, only slowing down enough for Ashley to catch up. They ran into the forest, then slowed down to listen for any Grimm. He heard a bark from a Beowolf, and just hoped it was part of the pack as he ran forward again, towards the sound. He found the Beowolf at the bottom of a tree, along with a very large group of various Grimm. Apparently the Deathstalkers had gotten bored with the prey these Grimm were after, or were waiting on the sidelines.

Bane looked up to find Blake standing in the tree, a cut on her cheek. _So she most likely won't be able to join us. She must have almost no aura left, unless she's saving some._ Bane pulled his sword and shield while his sister drew both of her swords, then stabbed two Beowolves through the back. She spun, finishing them off while putting gashes on two others. Figuring he should stay out of her way, Bane fought his way further into the crowd, then switched to his gauntlets so he could fight surrounded. The Beowolves kept coming and he just kept knocking them down, their bodies continuing to disappear. Bane noticed Evelynn and Nathan charge in, Nathan taking out an Ursa on the way. More Ursai joined them, forcing Bane to fight towards the edge of the fight and switching to his sniper, then his sword and shield, forcing him to fight barehanded for a few seconds, snapping one Beowolf's neck. He cut the head off an Ursa, then continued fighting from the edge of the crowd.

The Grimm were thinning out, Ashely and Evelynn tearing through the Beowolves while Nathan and Bane took care of the fewer, larger creatures. When the group got down to a few dozen Beowolves and only a few more Ursai, the Deathstalkers stepped in. Three of them came in from behind Ashely and Evelynn, planning on surprising them. Unfortunately for them, Ashely's fighting style kept her spinning, and she noticed them approaching. She grabbed Evelynn's arm and threw her to the side as the Deathstalker's stinger came down, embedding itself in the ground. Ashely leapt up and sliced the stinger off, leaving it with one less weapon. Bane and Nathan had finished off the other, smaller Grimm, and were now running towards the other two. Bane leapt up over Ashley's head, then slammed down his shield between two plates on a Deathstalker's body. The creature squealed, and Bane pulled out his shield, then pushed his sword into the newly widened hole. The sword pushed into the lung, only just missing the heart. The Deathstalker swung a pincer towards Bane, but couldn't twist it far enough to make contact. Bane grabbed his sword with both hands, pulling it sideways and greatly opening the gash and ensuring the Deathstalker would die quickly. It let out a small squeal, then collapsed on the ground, dead. Nathan had done similar with the other Deathstalker, but had shattered the animal's spine with his dust-powered ax.

All of their team turned to the last Deathstalker, which charged Ashley. She leapt to the side as Bane sprinted directly at the creature and leapt on top of it again, planning to kill it the same way. The creature panicked as Bane landed on top of it, and reared in fear, throwing Bane off. He landed on his feet, then stabbed the creature from behind, causing it to turn towards him. Evelynn joined him there, stabbing one of the creature's eyes before releasing her semblance. Nathan swung his ax into the creature's tail, slicing through it, and the creature squealed as it turned again. It's lack of a tail threw it off balance, and it slipped onto it's side. Bane stabbed his sword into it's belly, finishing it.

Bane looked up into the tree and found Blake back, still standing on the same tree, but with blood starting to drip off her cheek. She held the trunk of the tree, and was about to jump off when a feather flew underneath her one arm from behind her, then another flew past her other side. She pulled her arm off the tree, turning to find where the feathers were coming from. The next one flew towards her chest before it… passed directly through it. Blake flinched as it passed, and Bane noticed she seemed to flicker. Her flinch caused her to lose her balance, and she fell off the tree, unable to turn her feet towards the ground. Bane flashed forward, Nathan blinking his eyes as he completely missed Bane's path of travel. Bane caught Blake before she hit the ground, managing to avoid getting her hurt. He glanced up, seeing the shadow of the Nevermore passing over, then moving towards a clearing. Bane put Blake down, who was still dazed by the surprising catch. Bane moved towards the clearing, Ashley joining him on the way.

"Why are we going after it?" Ashley asked. "Couldn't we just go?"

"No. It will smell Blake's blood, and follow. These Grimm are persistent." Bane didn't even glance at her, just kept running, switching to his sniper on the way. He took a few shots at the Nevermore as it turned in a slow circle, then flew straight at Bane. Ashley moved out of the way, but Bane stood his ground and changed to his sword and shield as the creature threw a wave of feathers towards him. He watched a feather close in on his head before appearing just beside the wave, surprising both Ashley and the Nevermore.

"How are you doing that? You did that to catch Blake too, didn't you?"

"It's my semblance, a short teleport. I honestly didn't even know I had it until I caught Blake."

The Nevermore circled around, then swooped down to slice at the pair with it's claws. They dove to either side, and the Nevermore flew upward and circled around again. Bane thought for a second, then said to Ashley "Next time it tries to throw it's feathers, jump onto my shield. I'll launch you into it's belly, and you know what to do."

She nodded, then glanced up to see the Nevermore swooping again. Bane didn't avoid it this time, protecting himself with his shield as it's claws rammed into it. The blow threw him backwards, but also cracked one of the bird's feet. The Nevermore screeched and flew into another circle while Bane righted himself and moved back towards Ashley. The Nevermore drew back it's wings further back than usual, and Bane yelled "Now!"

Ashley leapt towards his head as he raised his shield, and launched her towards the bird as it unleashed another stream of feathers. Ashley widened her eyes, then pulled out her swords and cut down as many feather as she could. Bane saw the feathers coming, and had pulled out his sniper and shot several of the feathers as well. She flew into the creature's stomach, embedding her swords in it's belly. It screeched again, then bent forward to peck at her, beginning to fall towards the ground. Ashley released one sword to avoid the creature's beak, then grabbed it again and pulled it out. The Nevermore pecked again as she pulled out her other sword, dropping towards the ground and landing feet first. She sprinted away as the Nevermore crashed to the ground. It put it's feet under it again as Nathan appeared from the forest, leaping upwards and smashing his ax on the creature's neck, slicing it off. He stood for several seconds, then said "Wow… our first Nevermore guys!"

Bane laughed, then asked "Where's Evelynn?"

"She stayed with Blake, in case some more Grimm turned up."

Bane nodded, then turned to Ashley. "You ok? I tried to shoot down those feathers, but I'm not sure if any got through or not."

She shook her head. "No, I got the rest of them. Thanks."

They walked back towards Blake and Evelynn, Nathan joining them on the way. They found the two sitting at the base of the tree Blake had been in, staying silent to listen for more Grimm. They glanced up as the other three walked in, then stood up.

"How are you feeling Blake?" Bane asked.

She took a deep breath, then released it. "Alive, at least. Thanks for the catch."

"How did you not get hurt by that feather though?"

She laughed slightly, then answered "It's my semblance. Temporarily prevents me from being hit by anything organic, which is partially how I lost my balance on that branch. It didn't support me while I was using my semblance."

He nodded, then began leading the group away, looking back quickly when he heard a grunt of pain. Blake was standing with weight centered on one foot. "I think I've got a cut on the back of my leg. I can't put much weight on it."

Bane walked back, draping Blake's arm over his shoulder and taking some weight off her leg. "Can you walk like this?"

Blake blushed slightly, then answered "Yeah, I think I can make it."

They continued more slowly towards Beacon, Ashley following behind Bane, Nathan and Evelynn walking in front. They didn't talk at all on the way, with the only sound being the occasional grunt from Blake. Bane glanced at her and noticed she was sweating. "You sure you can make it Blake? I could always carry you."

She blushed again, then answered "No, I'd slow you down even more."

Bane grinned lopsidedly, then lifted her into his arms, carrying her bridal style. She squeaked slightly, and her bow slid off to one side a bit, revealing a pair of cat ears underneath. "Sorry, I knocked your bow off a little bit."

She gasped, reaching up to straighten it. She paused, then asked "You…you're not worried that I'm a faunus?"

Bane laughed, then said "Nathan and Evelynn are both faunus, and they haven't done anything to show faunus are 'horrible creatures' like so many people claim. Besides, I figured it out when I saw you at the café."

"When you overheard my conversation. You won't tell anyone, will you?"

Bane shook his head. "Why would I? You left them, so it's in the past."

Blake let out a sigh of relief, then said "Thank you."

They kept walking, taking only a few more minutes to exit the forest near Beacon. When they entered the school, Bane told the others to head back to class while he carried Blake to the infirmary. He walked in to find Weiss laying on one of the beds while Yang sat in a chair nearby. Ruby had a bandage wrapped around her head, where her wound had originally been covered up by her hair, but was sitting in a chair on the opposite side of Weiss. Yang looked up to see Blake being held by Bane, and smiled. "So, you got your damsel in distress I see."

Ruby and Weiss looked to see who she was talking to, and were greeted with the same sight. "Blake! You're alright!"

Bane let Blake down onto her own feet, but kept one arm around her for support. A nurse examined her wounds, then requested for Bane to help her into another bed. Ozpin walked in just as she was getting comfortable.

"So I see she is safe and sound. Excellent work Bane. Where is the rest of your team?"

"I told them to go back to class. There was no reason for them to miss any more." Bane's stomach growled, and he realized he had missed lunch. Ozpin grinned

"I think that is a good enough reason. You and your team are excused from final class for a small lunch."

"Thank you headmaster." Bane began walking out of the infirmary, but was stopped by Ruby.

"Thanks for getting her back for us. None of us could have gone back there, with our aura levels what they were, and I doubt you would have arrived in time if you had checked with Ozpin first."

"No problem. We needed to introduce Ashley to the locals anyway. Besides, Blake had herself in a safe place by the time we got there."

Ruby rubbed the back of her neck. "Still, thanks."

Bane smiled, then turned back to the room. "See you later Blake."

"Bye Bane. Thank you."

"Anytime."

Bane walked out of the room, then heard a voice drift out. "Yeah, he has a crush on you."

"YANG!"

* * *

"Sir, we found another few instances of the energy signature, but with a large difference."

"And what would that be?"

"The previous signatures lasted for several seconds, and we were able to determine many of the frequencies that were generated by the signature. However, these signatures only lasted for a split second, only releasing a single frequency before dissipating. It was a different frequency each time as well."

"Any idea what made them?"

"Yes. It seems that Bane created them. It is his semblance, but considering he didn't create the signature his sister came through, I doubt he created the first two."

Roman nodded. "It's a start anyway. See what else you can find."


End file.
